Asleep in the Common Room
by the potter family
Summary: Lily Evans stumbles into the Common Room late one night and finds a student asleep on the couches.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Hello, it's been a while since I've published anything and I am sorry about that. But this came to me a couple days ago and I know it isn't the same as an update to any of my stories but I don't have much time unfortunately. __Anyway, this is meant to be a pretty cute fic, so please, enjoy!_

_And a very special thank you to FivepointstoGryffindor for reminding me of how I love to write these stories._

_Set in Sixth Year, James and Lily aren't enemies but aren't exactly friends._

* * *

Lily Evans stumbled through the portrait hole of the Gryffindor Common Room at a quarter past midnight. She bumped her shin on a table and swore softly. She hadn't meant to get so caught up in revising her essay, but she wanted it to be perfect for McGonagall, given how poorly she'd done on the last Transfiguration essay she turned in.

And so, after dinner Lily had gone to the library and sat in one of the back corners in complete isolation. She worked diligently, unaware of the hours creeping by, pouring over her essay until she deemed it worthy to be handed in.

Which was why Lily was coming back to Gryffindor Tower after all of the Gryffindors had already gone up to bed, and long after curfew.

* * *

The Common Room was illuminated by the soft glow of the fire. Lily's shadow danced along the wall as she made her way through in the dim lighting.

She clutched the roll of parchment in her hand and began to make her way over to the stairs when she noticed a student sleeping on the couch.

And perhaps it was because of the dim lighting and a dash of intense curiosity, or perhaps it was some sort of deep instinct of who it was, that Lily found herself moving closer and examining the sleeping figure. She could not immediately recognize who it was, for there was a book that was covering most of their face.

Lily chuckled lightly to herself, knowing from her own past experiences that whoever it was must have fallen asleep while reading.

Lily set down her Transfiguration essay. She carefully removed the book from the student's face and was mildly shocked to see the face of James Potter resting so peacefully below her.

Lily would have sworn in court that her heart never fluttered, and that her smile didn't grow any larger.

But if it did, it was her secret to keep.

Lily held the book in her hands, fingers marking the page that he had last been on, and stepped back to survey the scene in front of her. James was sprawled out all over the couch, one leg extending and resting on the far side and the other dangling off the edge. He was still in his school uniform, but his shirt was wrinkled more than usual and his tie was twisted on his neck. He hadn't even bothered to take off his shoes.

Lily noticed how his glasses were askew on his face, probably from pushed around by the book, and his hair was still disheveled. Oddly enough, James' hair looked calmer than it did when he was awake, for his hands probably hadn't been run through it in hours. The little peaks of raven hair rested gently on top of each other, not in a way that would be considered tame, but a calmer chaos, Lily thought.

His eyes were shut, but Lily knew if they were to open, she'd be greeted by the most shocking coloring of hazel she'd ever seen. But if his eyes had shot open, Lily knew they probably would find themselves in a spat over nothing at all. How (unfortunately) most of their interactions happened these days. And thus, Lily was glad that his eyes remained shut during her period of scrutiny.

His face was neutral. A sight that Lily before had never seen. When awake, James Potter was _electric_. Always buzzing about, twenty emotions flicking across his face at once. He was one of the most expressive people Lily herself had ever met. His face was always shifting and displaying emotions. Lily found his expressive personality captivating.

She'd never tell him that though.

Deciding not to leave James to excruciating discomfort when he awoke, Lily ripped a off small piece of her essay to stick in his book so that he would not lose his place.

It was a tiny gesture, and most likely insignificant if it had been anyone else in the world. But this was Lily Evans.

Lily Evans who had just slaved away on this essay for hours. Lily Evans who, in the past, had completely rewritten essays for improper punctuation. Lily Evans who tended to be an obsessive perfectionist.

Lily Evans who had just torn off the beginning of all the words running down the left margin of her conclusion paragraph so that James Potter could have a bookmark.

She justified it in her mind though, because losing your place in a book is very annoying and James might not remember where he had left off.

It was perfectly justified.

Lily took the book and set it down on the table in front of the couch, she then softly took the glasses from James' face and held them gingerly so that she would not leave fingerprints on his lenses.

She subconsciously cleaned the lenses of his glasses on the hem of her shirt as smiled fondly at James when she saw that he had two marks on either side of his nose indicating that he had been wearing his glasses for quite some time.

Snapping back to reality, and realizing what she was doing, Lily quickly folded his glasses and set them down on top of his book, in close enough proximity that he would be able to find them quickly when he awoke.

After all, Lily knew that when James Potter didn't have his glasses, he was as blind as a bat. And she didn't want to inconvenience him by making them hard to find.

Shorty after, Lily found herself straightening out James' tie so that it didn't wrap around his neck but rather rested more or less where it was supposed to. She loosened the tie more than it already was, and unbuttoned the top buttons of his shirt, to prevent discomfort of course. As well as carefully slipping off his shoes and setting them on the floor by the edge of the couch.

_For his maximum comfort_, she thought. _That's the reason I'm doing this._

It wasn't because she cared about him or anything. No not at all.

Lily gently lifted James' dangling leg back onto the couch and stepped back.

_There,_ she thought. _He should be much comfier now._

James looked as if he would wake up with less weird pains all over his body. Or at least Lily hoped he would.

Lily picked up her essay, turned back to the stairs, and began the ascent to the sixth year girls' dormitories. The stairs creaked slightly as she made her way up, thinking about the boy still sleeping by the couch.

Away from the immediate heat of the fire, a small shiver ran up Lily's spine that was not uncommon in the dead of January.

But Lily thought of James, and quickly started down the steps she had just climbed.

_What if the the fire would extinguishes itself? _Lily thought. _He'll freeze._

And before she could remember that the house elves never let the fire go untended in the months of winter, Lily found herself grabbing a blanket and throwing it over the sleeping figure of James Potter.

Fortunately, he didn't stir, rather he smiled slightly in his sleep and made a movement Lily could only describe as snuggling into the blanket.

A sight which made Lily's heart melt.

Lily dawned a smile. A smile that could only be compared to the smiles that James would wear when Lily would sit by the fire and read, lost in her own world. (She'd never seen such a smile of course) But it was a smile that conveyed complete infatuation and udder admiration.

Lily sighed softly, and bent down so she was only inches away from James.

"Goodnight James," she whispered to him, softly enough though so he wouldn't wake.

And with the press of a soft kiss on his cheek, a kiss that couldn't even come close to expressing how deeply she cared for James, but a kiss that acknowledged the existence of such feelings, Lily left James, and made her way up to her dormitory, smiling the entire way.


	2. James

_A/N: I have been asked to create a second chapter in which James wakes up by enough people, and yes, I have given in. This is dedicated to all you lovely reviewers/followers/favoriters who encouraged me so greatly to keep this little plot line going! So I hope this is satisfactory to you all in the slightest bit. And as always...Enjoy!_

* * *

James Potter was having a wonderful dream

Not his average, winning the Quidditch cup and having Lily Evans fall madly in love with him, type of good dream.

It was the type of dream that warmed his insides like hot tea on a cold winter day.

James Potter dreamed of being five years old again, laying in his bed with his mother as she read him a bed time story.

He curled up into his mother's warmth and settled there, listening to her melodious voice tell the tale of Merlin and King Arthur together on the quest for the Holy Grail.

It was James' favorite story. And it was his mother's favorite to read to him.

But alas, like all good things, the dream came to an end. And a rather abrupt end at that, as he was jolted awake by the sound of first-years making raucous noise.

James didn't bother to open his eyes, it didn't make sense how they were making_ so much noise_ when he was tucked up in his bed.

He chose not to dwell on it and tried to re-immerse himself in his dream. it brought back so many fond memories, hearing his mother's voice read him that book, feeling her kiss him on the cheek, and as he would drift off to sleep and she would slip out of his bed and turn off the lights.

Oh how he longed to hear his mum whisper a soft "_Goodnight James_" just one more time.

For when she had whispered it to him in his dream last night, her voice wasn't quite right. And she didn't smell like his mother always did.

He couldn't be losing his memories of her already. It had only been a month since she died. He could _not_ be losing his memories of her already.

And perhaps that was the reason why he'd dug out his old storybook and read it over and over the night before.

Come to recall, he never did remember going up to bed last -

James sat up and opened his eyes. (Not that it did him much good as he couldn't see a blessed thing) He reached out and managed to get a hand on his glasses which were conveniently resting on the table next to the couch. He placed them on his face and it dawned on him why there were first-years disturbing his sleep.

He sighed, he truly hadn't meant to fall asleep down here, he always fell asleep in the most uncomfortable positions and would be freezing cold in the middle of the night.

James furrowed his brow, he was hardly uncomfortable at all. If anything, he had slept well, and he wasn't woken by the cold once. He looked down at his lap and saw a blanket resting over his body.

_But I didn't cover myself last night_.

"What the -" he trailed off when his eyes focused on his feet.

His shoes were missing.

James' mind was spinning. He made a reflexive move to fix his tie when he noticed it was much looser than he remembered.

And upon noticing that, he also noticed that a few too many buttons were undone. James reckoned he looked something like Sirius at this point.

None of it was adding up, James was a heavy sleeper. He wasn't the type to kick off shoes in his sleep, and certainly not the type to undo several buttons either.

James didn't think much of it though. He checked the clock and saw that he still had a little time before he had to get up and ready for breakfast.

But now that he was up, he'd never fall back asleep.

James looked around for the book he recalled reading last night. It was resting casually on the coffee table.

He didn't remember putting it there before falling asleep.

Picking up the book, he smiled at the old cover, and put the strange events of his waking up behind him.

There was a little piece of parchment sticking out the top. He supposed it was marking the page that he'd left off on.

He didn't remember putting that there either.

As he started to crack open the book he heard footsteps coming down the steps.

"Ah Prongs! I was wondering where you were last night," Sirius said as he jumped down the last few steps.

James ran a hand through his hair and smiled sheepishly, "I fell asleep down here last night. Sorry I never came up."

Sirius waved a hand disregarding his foolish apology.

"S'nothing really. Wanna come catch an early breakfast with Pete and I?"

James shrugged and grabbed his book. "Lemme just put this upstairs real quick, I don't want to lose it."

Sirius nodded, "I'll wait up."

James dashed up the stairs and threw the book on his nightstand before running out of the dorm.

He didn't think about the strange morning until much later that day.

* * *

"Mate I am telling you, Evans was _staring_ at you at breakfast!" Sirius said giddily as he slid into the seat next to James for Transfiguration.

James shoved him, "Oi shut it Padfoot. We both know she wasn't." _I wish she was._

"I thought you two were somewhat friends or something like that though?"

"I dunno mate, every time I turn around we're fighting and flinging insults at one another." James grinned "But at least she's somewhat talking to me."

Sirius let out a barking laugh, "Only you would consider that progress."

Before either could say another word McGonagall was at the front of the class and demanding their attention so that she could collect their essays.

Chatter filled the room as Professor McGonagall called each student up one by one to collect their essays.

"Lily Evans," the professor called out.

James turned slightly in his seat to watch the red-headed girl rise and fix her skirt ever so slightly before making the trek up to McGonagall's desk.

He watched as she ever-so-slightly bumped into the desk and dropped her rolled up parchment. It rolled ever so slightly under the desk of Sirius Black, who, being the git that he was, unrolled it and looked at tear down the left margin.

"Evans?" he asked with a glint of amusement in his eye and ignoring a jab to the side from James. "Settling for less than perfection I see. Congratulations on finally realizing homework is not -"

"Mister Black! Give Miss Evans her essay back and stop delaying this process." Professor McGonagall called out from the front of the class.

"Oh Sirius," Lily quipped. "Don't you start thinking I'm slacking off now love. I'll have you know this essay was rewritten over three times."

And with wink and a smile, Lily snatched her essay out of his hands, and walked up to the front of the class.

James sighed and watched her go, "Merlin I love the way she walks." _Why does she call you 'love' and me 'git'?_

Sirius smacked James on the back of the head. "You're hopeless"

_Tell me something I don't already know._

* * *

Other than the odd conditions surrounding his waking up, and the way Evans _might_ have possibly been staring at him during breakfast, it was a boring day.

James decided that he'd have to spruce up the day tomorrow if he didn't want to die of boredom by the end of the week.

All of his dorm-mates had already gone off to bed, but James wasn't tired quite yet. He blamed the lack of excitement.

He decided to pick up the old story book he'd been reading the night before.

He slipped his finger where the piece of parchment was wedged inside and opened the book.

The parchment didn't look familiar, it was not the creamy color that he and his mates typically used to write all their essays on.

_How'd this get in here? And where's it even from?_

There were the edges of letters running down the side of the strip. The letters, although fragments, looked familiar.

James _knew _that he knew who had written this. But who was it?

James spent more time than he would have if anyone else were awake, and more time than he was proud to admit, deciphering the handwriting.

And then it hit him.

The person he knew whose handwriting was so neatly spaced, leaned ever so slightly to the right. The only person he knew who didn't connect their letters on essays because he knew it had been carefully crafted and that this last draft was a product of pure perfection.

But why would she, _Lily Evans_, rip her perfect essay to give him, _James Potter_, a bookmark?

James sat up in bed and he started to think.

He hadn't seen her come in the Common Room last night, but he knew she'd been out since he'd checked the Marauders Map and seen she'd been in the library.

She _had_ said she was working on her Transfiguration essay the night before.

And her essay, like Sirius had said today in class, had a rip...running down the left side margin.

James would have bet 20 galleons that this fragment of parchment would match up perfectly to the rip in Lily's Transfiguration essay.

_No it _can't_ be._ _This is ridiculous._

James' mind floated back to this morning.

The book and glasses being within an arm's reach.

The shoes sitting next to the couch.

The blanket, which he _knew_ he hadn't gotten form himself.

The extra buttons on his shirt that were unbuttoned. (He let himself smile at the thought of Lily unbuttoning his shirt.)

And that voice, the voice in his dream that had kissed his cheek and whispered goodnight.

It made sense why it didn't sound like his mum, and it didn't smell like her either.

James allowed himself to break out in a huge grin, it had been _Lily_.

Lily who'd done all those things for him last night.

_Lily Evans_.

James couldn't stop grinning.

And with a burst of courage he leaped out of bed with one purpose, he had to find her.

James grabbed the Marauder's Map and found Lily instantly, she was in the Common Room. A wave of relief washed over James, it would be so much easier than breaking into the girls' dormitories.

* * *

He dashed from the dorm and down the stairs, almost tripping over his own two feet.

When he made it to the Common Room he noticed Lily sitting by the fire. She was reading, coincidentally, on the couch James had woken up on this morning.

James walked up quietly to the couches and took a seat right next to Lily. He sat there and grinned, and after a few moments Lily's eyes glanced up from her book.

"Hi there. Can I help you? Or are you going to just keep staring at me?"

James' smile only got wider.

"I know," was all he said.

Lily rolled her eyes and closed her book setting it down on the table in front of her, "Oh do tell, what do you know? I have a feeling you won't let me get back to my book until I ask."

James' smile just kept growing.

"Why d'you keep smiling at me like that?" Lily asked.

James let out a laugh. "Oh Lily. Lily Lily Lily."

She just rolled her eyes. "Yes James? James James James?"

He grinned again, "I knew I could get you to call me James."

Lily bit her lip and suppressed a grin, truthfully she'd been dying to make the switch from Potter for a while now, but she didn't want to raise suspicion.

"I'm glad we're finally past surnames," James started. "I mean come on now you'll tuck me into bed -"

Her eyes grew wide.

"- and kiss my cheek. -"

Her breath caught in her throat.

"- But you'll only call me James when I'm _asleep_?"

She opened her mouth to say something but just shut it instead.

"Now that's just silly Lily." James said sitting back on the couch, looking all too satisfied with himself, and a grin plastered on his face.

He'd never seen Lily look so flustered.

"H-How'd you know that it was all me?" she asked as she buried her face in her hands. "Oh _Mer_lin this is so _embarrassing_!"

"Oh Lily," James started as he bit back his laughter, "It's not so bad. I didn't tell Sirius or anything."

Lily looked up at him and smiled, "Oh thank Merlin! I'm sorry, I thought you were asleep, honestly. You looked uncomfortable!"

James kept smiling. _She cares._

"Oi shut it!" Lily said while trying to hold back her laughter. "You had a book on your face!"

Then by some sort of mutual understanding they both fell into a deep laughter, neither truly sure of what they were laughing at.

* * *

James thought Lily never looked prettier than when she was laughing, with her eyes crinkled, and happiness radiating out from her.

Lily thought James never looked more handsome than when he was laughing, his hair alive, and his whole aura buzzing.

He could feel her happiness, which made him feel alive.

She could feel the life within him, which made her happy.

They were two halves of a whole, neither of which knew it yet.

* * *

And when their laughter fizzled out, the pair continued to sit on the couch.

They started up a conversation. One that didn't lead into an argument or flinging insults. But an actual conversation. Where they talked and discovered new things, and shared things. A conversation where Lily saw a part of James she never saw. And James saw a part of Lily that she kept hidden away.

They talked for an immeasurable amount of time, both getting closer (physically and emotionally) to one another before falling asleep curled up with one another.

In the morning, neither of them would be able to recall _when_ they actually stopped talking.

In the morning, _Lily_ would claim that James' arm around her shoulders prevented her from being able to leave the couch.

In the morning, _James_ would claim that Lily's head resting on his chest was the reason that he slept on the couch for a second night.

In the morning, the first-years would run through the Common Room shouting, and neither Lily nor James would even stir.

In the morning, Sirius Black would venture down the stairs looking for his best mate and find him asleep with the girl of his dreams. And in a very non-Sirius manner, he would let them sleep.

And in the morning, when James and Lily both finally awoke, it would be as if a whole new chapter of their lives had begun.

* * *

_A/N: Well! There it is! I hope you all enjoyed it! It turned out a bit longer than I planned but you know how these things go sometimes! Oh well, hope you enjoyed!x_


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